Messer pleads not guilty to a total of five charges, trial date set for Jan. 16

Exactly one month after turning himself in to authorities following four days on the run back in August, Brandon Messer, who is from the Lake Cove area, finally made his way into Judge Chuck West’s court room on Thursday, September 24 for an arraignment hearing.
Messer stood before the judge and pled not guilty to four felony charges and one misdemeanor.
Messer, who is being represented by defense attorney Alex Chapman, has been charged with Terrorizing, Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Dangerous Substance (CDS), Possession of a Schedule IV CDS, Illegal use of Weapons or Dangerous Instrumentalities, Flight from an Officer.
During Messer’s arraignment the court set Messer’s probing date for January 7, 2016. Messer’s trial date was set for January 19, 2016 and will be heard in Judge Gary Ortego’s courtroom.
On August 20, 2015 Messer became a wanted man on the run in Evangeline Parish after a complaint was made to the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office concerning an alleged dog killing as well as threatening to kill the pastor of Happy Hallow Church in Lake Cove.
Now, a month since the incident occurred, Messer still remains incarcerated in the EPSO jail awaiting his trial.
Also appearing in court that day on the judge trial docket was Gregory Ryan Gautreaux, who has been accused of assisting in the escape of Basile inmate Zack Deville.
Gautreaux’s attorney Jacob Fuselier argued that there was not sufficient evidence to hold Gautreaux for the crime that he has been accused of committing.
Gautreaux has admitted to picking up Deville and then dropping him off in the Turkey Creek area but he says he did not know Deville had escaped. Fuselier said, “My client was told by Mr. Deville that he had been released from jail and not that he had escaped.”
Judge West ruled that there was a sufficient amount of probable cause to hold Gautreaux for the crime he has been accused of. Judge West said, “You do not need evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to hold someone. You only need probable cause, which is there.”
After Judge West’s ruling, Gautreaux remains incarcerated in the parish jail.